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In a working class London district lives Raymond, his wife Valerie, her brother Billy, Valerie and Billy's mother Janet, and their grandmother Kath. Billy is a drug addict whom Raymond kicks out. The family is dysfunctional, mostly due to Raymond's short temper and violent outbursts.

The film depicts the environment Oldman witnessed growing up on a council estate in South East London. Oldman's sister Laila Morse plays Janet and his mother voices a song in the film. The title is a medical instruction (literally "nothing by mouth"), meaning that a patient must not take food or water. It is set to the soundtrack "Peculiar Groove" by Frances Ashman.

Nil by Mouth received generally positive reviews, currently holding a 65% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[3]Roger Ebert awarded the film 3.5/4 stars, writing: "The film's portrait of street life in South London is unflinching and observant."[4]

Nil by Mouth features the word "cunt" 82 times, more than any other film in history. It also features around 428 uses of the word "fuck".,[5] more than any film at the time until Summer of Sam beat it 2 years later. It still holds the record for the number of uses of "fuck" per minute in a dramatic film.